Canon creates EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS STM and EF 40mm F2.8 STM

Canon has developed the EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS STM and EF 40mm F2.8 STM lenses with stepper motors for fast, quiet operation when shooting video. The 18-135mm STM is an extended standard zoom for APS-C DSLRs, while the 40mm STM is a pancake prime lens for full frame and APS-C cameras. Both lenses feature stepper motors, to enable fast, quiet focus, particularly with the contrast-detection method of autofocus used for live view and video. They also both have electromagnetic diaphragms - allowing smooth and accurate control over aperture for video shooting. The lenses will be available from late June 2012, with the 18-135mm STM costing $549 and the 40mm F2.8 STM costing $199.

London, UK, 8 June 2012 – Canon today unveils two new compact, lightweight lenses - the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM and EF 40mm f/2.8 STM. Showcasing a number of new features, including continuous autofocus in Movie mode, both models offer superior image quality and enhanced flexibility to enable photographers of all skill levels to capture both stills and movies of practically any subject.

Fast, accurate autofocus for film-makers and photographers

As well as offering full-time manual focus controls when shooting stills, the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM and EF 40mm f/2.8 STM are both also ideal for aspiring movie makers, allowing them to focus more accurately during shooting. The perfect companion lenses to the new EOS 650D, both models feature new stepper motor technology (STM), enabling fast, continuous focus when recording moving subjects - ensuring movies will be smoother and clearer than ever before.

Offering enhanced AF performance with high-speed, high-precision focusing, the two new lenses make it easy for photographers to capture more spontaneous shots, with exceptional detail and clarity. This is particularly useful for documentary, action or travel photography. With a minimum focusing distance of 0.39m and 0.3m respectively, the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM and EF 40mm f/2.8 STM allow you to get even closer to the action whilst keeping the subject in perfect focus.

EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM – versatile, high-performance zoom

Offering a focal range of 18–135mm, the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM has been created to offer photographers a compact, versatile zoom lens which can be used to capture a variety of subjects, from portraits to landscapes and action shots. Ensuring high-quality stills at slow shutter speeds, the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM features an intelligent optical Image Stabilizer which offers a 4-stop advantage over non-IS models. The lens will also sense whether the photographer is shooting normally or panning, engaging the most appropriate IS mode to capture the best possible image. When shooting movies, Dynamic IS automatically engages, countering any shake caused by the videographer's movement to produce smooth, stable footage.

For subtle background blur when exploring shallow depths of field in stills and movies, the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM features a circular aperture with an Electro Magnetic Diaphragm (EMD) which permits highly-accurate control over aperture settings. High image quality is also assured throughout the zoom range thanks to four groups of lens elements including one Ultra-low Dispersion (UD) and one Precision Molded Optics (PMo) element to counter chromatic aberration. Canon's optimised Super spectra coatings on each lens element also reduce ghosting and flare, ensuring images require minimal post-processing.

EF 40mm f/2.8 STM – super-slim, high image quality

The EF 40mm f/2.8 STM is Canon's first EF pancake lens with a fixed focal length of 40mm and wide f/2.8 aperture, making it ideal for photographers who want a versatile, compact and lightweight lens for portrait, reportage, travel or landscape situations. Precision control over the circular, seven-blade aperture is enabled by the EMD, producing a beautiful bokeh effect and an aspheric lens with Super spectra coatings ensures optimal image quality from the centre of the lens to the periphery for stunning shots of practically any subject.

Use rotating is the simple answer I have learned! When buying filters for this lens, it is not necessary to buy a typically more expensive slim filter. The lens element being much smaller than the ring size, 52mm standard filters will avoid vignetting issues caused by standard filters.

These new STM lenses in combination with the new hybrid video phase detection/contrast detection autofocus sensors from Canon seem to be exactly the right novice oriented, video friendly, tech that a hardcore DSLR shooting still photographer, like myself, could justify investing in to be able to play at being a videographer from time to time without having to settle for a lesser camera form factor (for me), such as an ILC, EVIL, etc.. All that Canon has to do now is hook me up with a 60D or 7D body equipped with the hybrid sensor tech and a EF-S 15-85mm STM IS Lens to seal the deal. I'll definitely buy that kit.

cool. now canon should also make "pancake" fullframe dslr, so all this make sense (ok, film users with "small" cameras should welcome this lense), otherwise just makes pancake for crop - much more useful..

It's nice to see Canon finally coming out with a pancake, but it's not a focal length that I would have hoped for. On APS, it's a bit long for normal, but a big short for portrait. And on full frame, well, a little wider than normal would be fine. But, a full frame camera is going to be big anyway, negating the benefit of a pancake lens. So, it may be a great lens, but certainly not my first choice of focal lengths.

I don't know why people think that a pancake lens is of no benefit on a FF body. A pancake makes a FF DSLR as small and compact as it can possibly be while still having a lens on it! That's an advantage that I can certainly appreciate. I'll happily be using it on my 5D.

A lot of times when you're walking around with a DSLR hanging from its strap, it's the lens sticking out in front of it that hits things and gets knocked around. With a pancake on your DSLR (FF or APS-C), there is hardly anything sticking out in front of the body! That's awesome. And that's why pancakes have been loved ever since the days of 35mm film SLRs; it makes your camera as small as physically possible, making it barely larger than not having any lens on it at all.

I read a lot about ``contrast detect AF optimized lenses``. What does it mean for lens? Camera tells the lens where to focus, so its important for camera if it is CD or PD, and lens does only what camera tells the lens to do. What am i missing?

You are missing the weight of the lens group which is moving during focusing. CDAF requires more movements of the focusing group compared to PDAF, and the time it takes to finish the focusing is inversely proportional to the average speed of that group, which is turn is proportional to the acceleration of the group by the given focusing motor (which could be only so much powerful as the power supplied by the camera), which in turn is inversely proportional to the mass of the focusing group. Hence, the lighter the focusing group, the faster focusing (any focusing really, it just much more important for CDAF).

I assume it's not only a question of weight of the focusing group of a particular lens that makes it more or less appropriate for CAF. The algorithm of AF is quite different for different kind of AF drives (micro-motor, ring-type USM) and different type of AF (contrast or phase). It might have taken Canon just to adjust the firmware of the existing lens to make it CAF-friendly. We won't really know until one of these new lenses ends up in the hands of another "inquisitive mind". :)

As a travel 'tog this would be a very useful replacement for my heavy 35 1.4 and 50 1.4. If only it were faster, but that might canabalize sales, right? That's assuming it has decent image quality when shooting wide open. Still, at $200, it might make a nice backup lens in case my 50 1.4 fails for the fourth time. Hmmm...

I think most people would rather sacrifice a bit of aperture speed to have a a modern AF lens. There's no point in bringing up "pretty small" manual focus lenses. Obviously, when you don't have to put an AF motor inside the lens, you can save quite a bit of space. But a lens without AF is a lot less useful to most of today's photographers. Not only that, this isn't a lens for photographers; it's also a lens that caters to Canon's DSLR videographers, too. Hence the new STM stepper motor.

If I could only have one lens for a FF 35mm body, it would be a 40mm pancake.

BTW Voightlander makes an excellent 40 pancake in Canon and Nikon mount, f/2, manual focus only, about $450 at B&H, rave reviews for performance. It would be nice if the Canon performs as well or close. And it would be nice if Nikon follows suit. The Canon looks perfect in this product shot.

Several comments here from people who just don't get it. Well it depends on what you like to shoot, obviously a semi-wide is not for bird photographers. Landscape and street, it's great, and the pancake format makes it that much easier to carry your camera everywhere.

@qwertyasdf - one thing that greatly impacts the price of a product is its production volume. Canon knows they will sell boatloads of these 40mm pancakes, so their unit cost is going to be lower. Panasonic knows that the market for m4/3 lenses is much smaller, so their unit cost is higher. They need to sell it for a higher price to reach a certain level of profitability, while Canon can sell their lens for a much lower price because they know they can easily make up for the lower price by selling many more of them to their massive pool of users!

Take the new Leica Summicron-M 50/2 which is priced at $7,200. Sure, you can say that it should not cost as much as it does. But Leica's production volumes are miniscule compared to the production volumes of a Canon lens. Low production volumes mean higher prices.

For example if you go on vacation and just want take minimal gear. I could get away with a 5DII and a 24-105. If I have a tiny 40mm pancake, I might as well shove it in a side pocket. This will give me a smaller form factor and a little bit of a light advantage. So yeah, it could be beneficial. Especially if it turns out having excellent optics.

Well well well, a pancake lens for canon at last',' thats not a bad compact idea. i guess it will not be expensive and practical for carry all around lens for most of us. i would not mind adding one to my collection at all". besides i dont like anything smaller than a 2.8, so being that said, i will get my hands on one just for studio fun. i mean" it really can't" hurt the budget can it"? so if it's cheap i will definately get one for sure.

I use Nikon's 40mm f/2.8 macro as a walkaround lens: its the PERFECT focal length for my shooting: 50 is a touch long, 35 is a touch wide. It's a DX lens, though, so it's supposed to be used like a 60/2.8 macro would on FX.

Pancakes have always traditionally been in the 40-45mm range, in almost all brands. Nikon has an older AI-P and GN model 45 and Pentax have their own as well. Not that unusual.

You're just being narrow-minded and prejudicial. I predict that the 40/2.8 will be a huge seller, will become a "must-have" lens for most Canon DSLR users, and eventually it will cause people to consider this focal length to be new "standard" focal length, not only on FF but also on APS-C. The newer generation of photographers will consider it to be completely normal. It's the older generation of photographers (but only some of them), who are more narrow-minded and more ways that will be less accepting of this lens. It is this narrower-minded group who will be the ones who continue to think 40mm is "weird".

Consider that one of the most popular lenses in the m4/3 system is the Panny 20/1.7, which is a 40mm equiv.

Pancakes are apparently easier to make at the focal lengths close to the flange distance of the mount. So all pancakes for the mirrorless mounts are and will be clustered around 16-20mm focal length, while old SLR mounts require something close to 40 mm.

In spite of what the narrow-minded naysayers say, I expect this lens to be a huge seller, and it's going to become a "must-have" lens for most Canon DSLR users. It will become the new "standard" lens.

Also, people don't realize that even FF users like to have a slim, small, light lens to use on their FF bodies from time to time. I think you'll be seeing this lens on a lot of FF bodies in the future.

No, not at all. A full frame camera is not 'big'. It is bigger than an APS body but still not 'big'. The main impediment to carrying an SLR around alot is the huge lens sticking out of the front. Assuming good quality I will certainly have one for my 5D.

You've made your ignorance very clear by your posting. The 40-45mm focal length has been popular among street photographers for years. Historically these type of lenses are sharp, light and unobtrusive. The only "flailing" from Canon here is that they should have released this lens years ago.

Apparently you don't know that one of the most popular lenses in the m4/3 systems is the Panasonic 20/1.7, which is a 40mm equivalent.

I predict this Canon 40mm pancake is going to be a huge seller, it will become the no-brainer "must-have" lens for most Canon DSLR users, and it will become the new "normal" for many Canon users. That's going to make people like you who are being so quick to dismiss this lens look extremely foolish! LOL. Yes, Canon will be "flailing" in massive sales volumes with this lens!

40mm pancake is only cool if it's on a relatively inexpensive, small, full frame mirrorless. Otherwise, it's too long and slow to be that exciting for me on a 350d unless the IQ is stellar. I may still buy it though...cause it's just so pancake-y.

I think its misleading to call lenses such as this 40mm f/2.8 'pancake' designs. It suggests they have a special optical design somehow while actually these are just small lenses of normal proportions stuck in oversized barrels for no good reason.

This is obviously a pancake lens (a super compact one too!!!) and it is exactly what I wanted for years! I would have preferred an f 2.0, but this is tiny! I was ready to buy an after-brand. Good timing!!!! It will be on my 5D Mk II all the time when I travel, will not stick out further than the hand grip! A really compact combo with no quality compromise, forget mirrorless with silly long zoom in front of them!!!!! I always laugh when I see that!

@armandino- I shot a wedding this weekend. Some guests had DSLRs, some guests had mirrorless cameras with "silly long zooms in front of them." You know which people looked the silliest to me? The guests who were lugging around those big DSLRs at a wedding just to do a few quick snaps! The smarter ones were the ones with the mirrorless bodies. Even with a "silly long zoom in front of them", a mirrorless camera (body+ lens) is a fraction of the size and weight of a regular DSLR with equivalent lens!

Yeah, as a pro I accept that I have to carry around these larger lenses and bodies for my work. But as a guest at a party or wedding reception, I would MUCH rather have a mirrorless camera (even with a long lens on it) than a big DSLR with a big lens on it. So laugh all you want, but I am quickly realizing that having a hefty DSLR at a party or reception actually looks sillier and sillier, especially compared to these great new mirrorless cameras available today!

I know, that is exactly my point :) I have made the argument for compact equivalent high f-number full frame lenses in favor of 'fast' aps-c/m43 lenses for a while.

I am hoping to get a full frame mirrorless camera that is actually more compact than current smaller sensor mirrorless camera's. Wide angle prime lenses in the f/2.4-f/3.5 range or a normal zoom in the f/3.5-f/8 range is exactly what i want.

I have to add that by more compact i do not mean the body itself, even a nex-7 size body is small enough for me, it is mainly how the lenses are designed and how they are mounted/retracted into the body that would be the important change. Think panasonic power zoom mounted into the body and nearly disappearing into it when not in use.

An m43 mirrorless camera designed this way with a similar spec lens as the one just mentioned would retract to about the same size as the new sony rx100.For a full frame version i dont want a zoom this small but wide angle primes could be available at similar sizes as evidenced by this new canon 40mm.

I am not, that is why i talk only about wide angle primes or wide angle to normal zooms.Also i mentioned the size when retracted, i am aware the lens would extend when in use. Look at the rx100 with the lens extended, a symmetric 50mm f/2.8 on full frame would have to extend by about the same amount and anything wider by less.

I think it is very obvious how much better mirrorless system camera's can become when you see that even a 90mm f/2 full frame lens can collapse to about the same size as the current smallest m43 mirrorless camera with wide angle pancake lens.

You're being silly and childish. Pancake lenses have been around a long time. They've existed ever since the 35mm film SLR days. Nikon had the Nikkor 45/2.8 P lens (a manual focus pancake lens) that was introduced in 1977, and was re-introduced in 2001 as a collectors lens for $450. Here's the Nikkor 45/2.8 P on a D700:

Obviously, both of these are large FF SLR bodies (one is digital, one is film). You must find these images "scary"! LOL.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to put an ultra-slim low-profile lens on a DSLR body! People have been doing it for a long time. It's nothing new. And there's nothing "scary" about it. It allows you to get your SLR as small as possible and still have a lens on it!

I'm sick of all the complaints and general sense of dissatisfaction with the world that I see here. Way to often DPreview is cluttered with whiney complaints and anger towards on camera manufacturer or another. This is a new golden age of photography, enjoy it don't complain about it.

I don't think Canon has fallen short with lens at all. I own the Voigtlander and a beautiful lens it is. All metal construction and stand out image quality at $500 is well worth it for the experienced photographer. However, i'm thinking of buying this lens not to replace my Voigtlander, but as a great lens for my wife who relies on autofocus and would appreciate the compact design. At $200 this lens is a bargain. The $100 Canon 50mm 1.8 has excellent IQ but all plastic construction makes it kind of a disposable limited use item. Looking foreword to seeing some image samples though.

I wonder how the 18-135mm will perform optically? I really need a walkaround lens and after going through 5 copies of the 17-55mm and 2 of the 15-85mm I'm losing hope, I'm so sick of getting a new lens only to find it's decentred AGAIN! I get the lens, take some shots and automatically check the edges to see which side will be soft THIS TIME! I would use the IS kit lens of the front element didn't rotate! The best lens I have come across is the Sigma 18-50 ex macro which I use now but even that has a tendency to front focus.

It's a sad state of affairs when you WANT to give a company money and they make it impossible!

I'm on the verge of trying a 17-40 out of desperation but it's so short at the tele end!

I just want a walk around zoom that's not decentered and is sharp across the frame at F/5.6 and sharp in the centre wide open!

Definitely not the body as the problem shifts from side to side depending on the lens and I never return a lens without trying it on at least one other body first. If the issue was with the sensor being misaligned the softness would always be in the same place.

The 15-85mm in particular is famous for poor quality control, the last copy I had was quite good at 15mm and 85mm but at 35mm it was mush on the right hand side.

I have many lenses that work fine on this body, the above mentioned Sigma while prone to the odd front focus issue is very consistent in it's sharpness across the frame as are my 55-250mm, 50mm 1.8, 70-300mm L, 85mm 1.8 and even the Samyang 8mm fisheye!

If the capability is inconspicuous and portable, then yes. My 5DMKII is very light with no lens attached - I'd reckon this would be very much the same feeling but with the added benefit of being able to take a photo. If the IQ is there, at this price, seems like a great little accessory to have.

I LOVE the idea of the pancake 40! The little 4/3 and NEX cameras are so tempting, but I've already got a killer full-frame camera and would hate to sacrifice it's unbeatable image quality on an image I want to keep. This makes my camera close enough to small enough to carry around all the time! If that makes any sense.

I fully agree, these little 4/3 are tempting, but they are a compromise by definition. A FF with this lens is reasonably compact, and you are still carrying a real camera around. I wish canon came up with a super-light, compact size FF DSLR.

I wonder why they (and other makers) don't make a 43 mm (though I don't remember now but I guess there is somewhere [recently launched]) pancake, as this is the truly "normal" lens in FF format. It's always a bit more (50), a bit less, but never THAT.

I also wonder why no maker try hard to make lenses for APS-C with larger apertures, since they're aimed to a class of camera supposedly not expected to have such high demand for quality than FF, thus not requiring such compromises to keep apertures down in favor of extreme quality.

I guess that you are thinking about the "Pentax-FA 43mm F1.9 Limited", which is just that - a full frame pancake lens, released in 1997 (designed for film) but still in production. The actually made it in Leica M-mount (super rare) as well!

Actually, I was talking about the 40/2.8 XS (which is anorexic compared to this, although it does not have an AF motor). Pentax also has a 40/2.8 Limited, which is in another class (build quality and design).

EDIT: and the design is called Tessar and was invented by a guy working for Zeiss (surprise surprise) in 1902.

There is something I don't understand: Why the pancake has only F2.8? It seems development is going backwards. 20 years ago I used a Zuiko 40mm F2.0 pancake. For the last 3 years I used a Hexanon 40mm F1.8, that I adapted on my Olympus 4/3 camera. I changed it for the Zuiko 40mm F1,4 from the PenF series for my m4/3 Panasonic. All this lenses were made 20-30 years ago, and they are small and very good. Where's the progress, I'm asking.

Slow pancake is not because of their technical limitation but their marketing strategy. If they start making a great low-price pancake, it kills their more expensive lens sales. Canon is making money mostly from ink cartridges and lenses. Also they have to let people believe that nothing can beat huge DSLR and zoom lens combo.

Sadly canon acts more and more in the interest of their money then of their clients!It's sad when suposedly in XXI century brands say they listen to their clients needs and opinions, and canon just seens to ignore them!For example:-Releasing TOP of the line cameras with flaws, and DENYING it agaisnt ALL the world!- Having a crapy PROFESSIONAL zoom(24-70L) that also costs a small fortune!- Making the new versions cost DOUBLE when they are basically the same tecnology and have nothing new or revolutionary(last 24-70&70-200)- The stupid location of DOF preview that EVERYONE complained for almost 2decades!!!- Not releasing a mirrorless line after the other doing it for several years!And the list goes on and on.

One of the reasons i choose canon back in 1996 was because they were more inovative then nikon... sad how things have changed! :/

PS: canon user for more then 20years, not just trashing because my brand is N orP or whatever!

dpreview doesn't let write it all,or correct it, so i have to add here what was missing in the text:

- 15-85 costs the same as L lens 24-105, but is build like CRAP(!)(just try to walk with it, or take a tripod picture pointing up or down... and LESS brigth!!! o_O- the same goes for the 10-22 Versus the 17-40 f4 L!- releasing a top of the line 17-55 f2.8, but not making it an L despite the price!- NOT giving a sunshade in most lenses EVEN if they cost 800€!!!- keep using lens caps from last century that you cannot use with the sunshade on! X(-Selling the 5D mkII WITHOUT lens control in video!Come on: it's meant as professional camera and they only changed it when ppl started using other brands lenses to be able to control diaphragm!! XL- still Having more and better control in panasonic "G2" mode video then in their oh so famous slr video capable cameras!!!

And the list goes on and on and on! :(It really looks like canon doesn't give a crap about their clients needs&opinions!

Higuel, I hate to pee on your parade but you're barking up the wrong tree with your lens comparison. The 15-85 and 10-22 were built for APS-C sensors in order to finally offer wider angles to those of us with crop sensors. Wider angles are always more expensive, especially wide angle zooms. And the build quality of both lenses is right on par with their cost. The 15-85 may extend, but its mechanism is pretty tight, and the 10-22 does not extend. Plus the optical quality of those two lenses is either as good or better than their L counterparts. The 17-55 isn't an L because they concentrated on glass rather than weather sealing.You're behaving as though things don't cost money. The price of materials is rising, the economy is tanking, and still they are selling the 10-22 for less than I paid three years ago. There may be a center to this universe, but I assure you that you are not it.

Higuel you sounds like a whiney complaining fool. Not to mention uninformed and angry. i'm sick of all the complaints and general sense of dissatisfaction with the world that I see here (DPreview) way to often. This is the golden age of photography enjoy it don't complain about it

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